EPL 2016/17: Sunderland 0-3 Manchester United, 5 talking points

Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford scored as Manchester United tamed a sorry Sunderland 3-0 at the Stadium of Light to keep their chances of finishing in the top four alive. Zlatan opened the scoring with a brilliant curled-strike to score his 17^th league goal of the season.

Sunderland were effectively dumped out of the contest late in the half when Seb Larsson was given his marching orders for a challenge on Ander Herrera. United doubled their lead seconds into the second half thanks to a low drilled effort by Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

Substitute Marcus Rashford finished off a counter-attack late in the game to add further gloss to the scoreline.

Here are the talking points from a one-sided affair at Wearside:-

#1 Manchester United expectedly dominate proceedings

The first half saw Manchester United dominate proceedings against a Sunderland side completely bereft of confidence, 10 points off safety and having failed to find the net for over 10 hours of league football. Though the final pass was missing, it looked inevitable that United were going to attack the Sunderland goal for the best part of the game, with the likes of Lingard from the right wing and the under-fire left-back Luke Shaw adding width.

Apart from a five-minute spell early in the game, Sunderland’s dire form was fairly evident. They were struggling to string a series of passes in midfield and the service to Jermain Defoe was next to zero. In fact, Defoe didn’t get a touch of the ball until 20 minutes into the game. A routine victory for Jose Mourinho’s side was always on the cards.

#2 Zlatan cannot stop scoring

Against a vulnerable Black Cats’ defence, Zlatan delivered a professional performance

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been scoring the bulk of United’s goals this season and he didn’t disappoint the away fans this time either, opening the scoring at the Stadium of Light with a fantastic strike. An overlapping run by Luke Shaw allowed Zlatan to bend inside, set himself and unleash a curler to beat goalkeeper Jordan Pickford on the bounce and into the bottom corner to break the deadlock.

After a lack of incisiveness from United, it needed individual brilliance to settle the nerves. Zlatan’s overall performance was creditable, holding up the ball in the attacking third – as he has been doing all season – and ensuring his side keep possession in order to open a goal-scoring chance.

Against a vulnerable Black Cats’ defence, Zlatan delivered a professional performance to help United keep their top-4 hopes in the balance.

#3 Seb Larsson’s controversial red

Being just a goal down, Sunderland would have backed themselves to muster some sort of a comeback. But even those hopes were wiped out late in the first half when midfielder Seb Larsson was shown a straight red card by referee Craig Pawson for a high-footed tackle on Ander Herrera.

Replays showed that Larsson initially got the ball, but caught Herrera high on the shin on the follow-through, prompting the official to brandish the red card. Sunderland were a goal down and a man down. As a contest, the game was done and dusted by that decision.

It was only a matter of how many goals the Black Cats could restrict United to. David Moyes’s side can feel that they were hard done by that decision, but at least the 53-year old must be given credit for having a go at United in the closing stages, deploying substitute Fabio Borini alongside Jermain Defoe up front.

#4 Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s excellent finish seals the points

The second half began in dramatic fashion, and in just the way Mourinho would have wanted. No sooner did United kick off proceedings that they doubled their lead. A string of passes between the blue United shirts – apart from an unsuccessful challenge by Victor Anichebe – culminated in the ball finding Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the edge of the box.

He took a touch and drilled a low shot past Pickford into the bottom corner – just 46 seconds into the second half to wrap up the three points. With a one-man disadvantage, Sunderland barely threatened to get in behind the United defence, let alone have a go at Sergio Romero in goal.

It was plain sailing for Mourinho’s side, playing in front of Sunderland’s backline and patiently waiting to pick out the space to create a chance.

#5 Sunderland’s squad not Premier League quality

Moyes has a massive rebuilding task on his hands if he stays

With a meagre 20 points from 31 league games and sitting 10 points adrift of 17^th placed Hull, time is surely up for the north-east club in the Premier League. David Moyes’s side have now gone 975 minutes without beating an opposition keeper in the league. The fundamental problem lies in the structure and depth in the squad.

Apart from individuals like Didier N’Dong (Sunderland’s record signing), Jermain Defoe and possibly Jordan Pickford, the remainder of the squad looks inexperienced and nowhere close to Premier League quality. Centre-halves Lamine Kone and Jason Denayer have struggled for consistency this season, being opened up by opposition attacks far too often.

In games that he has started for the Wearside club, Jack Rodwell has only been on the winning side on a solitary instance and his lack of ideas going forward is a serious problem for Moyes’s side. Defoe has been cutting an isolated figure at number 9 on a majority of occasions.

The negative vibes around the team were apparent after the second goal went in, they looked like a side resigned to Championship football next season. David Moyes – if given the chance to manage the club next season – has a massive rebuilding task on his hands as the current crop of players are just not fit and mentally tough to compete at this level.